Male and Female: The Asian Elephant is smaller than the African Elephant. Adult males are much bigger than Adult females. They are a grey muddy color and have thick wrinkled skin. They have a big trunk that contains over 40,000 muscles inside. The trunk is used for drinking, breathing, grabbing things etc. They use their trunk to spray themselves with water and Asian Elephants are very fond of water. They have big ears, which they move to radiate heat so they can keep cool. Young: A young Elephant is called a Calf. They are cared for by the mother and other female Elephants for up to three years of age. Size: The Asian Elephant male grows up to 3.2m (10 ft) and the female 2.24m (8 ft) from shoulder height. Their body length is from 5.5-6.5m (18-21ft). Their body weight is 2,000-5500kg (4,500-12,000ibs). They are some of the largest living land mammals (several whales are larger). Breeding: Female Elephants give birth to a Calf every 2.5-4 years otherwise every 5-8 years, depending on the availability of feed and water. They give birth to one calf weighing 50-150 kg. Habitat: In the wild Asian Elephants are usually found in scrub forest. They favor areas with grass, low woody plants and trees. Feeding: In the wild they feed on the grass for more than two-thirds of the day. They also eat large amounts of tree bark, roots, leaves and small stems. Some favoured foods are cultivated crops such as banana’s, rice and sugarcane. In the wild because they need to drink water at least once a day, they are always close to a fresh source of water. Conclusion: Asian Elephants are a member of mammal group "Elephants" which are the largest living mammals on earth; they are big, intelligent and love water. Due to increased of human population and land cultivation they are and endangered species.
CLASSIFICATION:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Proboscidea
Family: Elephantidae
Genus: Elephas
Species: E. Maximus
Male and Female: The Asian Elephant is smaller than the African Elephant. Adult males are much bigger than Adult females.
They are a grey muddy color and have thick wrinkled skin. They have a big trunk that contains over 40,000 muscles inside. The trunk is used for drinking, breathing, grabbing things etc. They use their trunk to spray themselves with water and Asian Elephants are very fond of water. They have big ears, which they move to radiate heat so they can keep cool.
Young: A young Elephant is called a Calf. They are cared for by the mother and other female Elephants for up to three years of age.
Size: The Asian Elephant male grows up to 3.2m (10 ft) and the female 2.24m (8 ft) from shoulder height. Their body length is from 5.5-6.5m (18-21ft). Their body weight is 2,000-5500kg (4,500-12,000ibs). They are some of the largest living land mammals (several whales are larger).
Breeding: Female Elephants give birth to a Calf every 2.5-4 years otherwise every 5-8 years, depending on the availability of feed and water. They give birth to one calf weighing 50-150 kg.
Habitat: In the wild Asian Elephants are usually found in scrub forest. They favor areas with grass, low woody plants and trees.
Feeding: In the wild they feed on the grass for more than two-thirds of the day. They also eat large amounts of tree bark, roots, leaves and small stems. Some favoured foods are cultivated crops such as banana’s, rice and sugarcane. In the wild because they need to drink water at least once a day, they are always close to a fresh source of water.
Conclusion: Asian Elephants are a member of mammal group "Elephants" which are the largest living mammals on earth; they are big, intelligent and love water. Due to increased of human population and land cultivation they are and endangered species.
Bibliography:
Asian elephant (2008) http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/asian_elephant/asian_elephant.htm accessed 9 November 2014 (Size)
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/elephants/asian_elephants/ accessed 9 November 2014(Feeding, Habitat, Breeding, Young)
http://www.theanimalspot.com/asianelephant.htm accessed 9 November 2014(Description)
Whipsnade Zoo Asian elephant : Flickr. (2008) https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3216/2678295742_a81e8ace4e_b.jpg accessed 11 November 2014 (image)
Food Web:
Animoto